Skip to main content

Arup and Amey to design Australian smart motorway project

Arup, working with Amey, is to deliver the M4 Smart Motorway project, said to be the first of its kind in New South Wales, Australia. The commission includes all technology and civil works, spanning from detailed design through to construction support services.
September 28, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

7942 Arup, working with 6110 Amey, is to deliver the M4 Smart Motorway project, said to be the first of its kind in New South Wales, Australia.

The commission includes all technology and civil works, spanning from detailed design through to construction support services.

The M4 Smart Motorway project will introduce intelligent technology to monitor traffic conditions, manage congestion and respond to incidents in real-time on the existing M4 Western Motorway. The project aims to increase traffic throughput, with a potential reduction of peak travel times by up to 15 minutes and accidents by up to 30 per cent.

The Arup and Amey team was originally formed in England, combining Arup’s technical expertise with Amey’s operational management to win a recent design package of the Smart Motorway Programme on the M1. This considerable international knowledge, combined with both firms' local highways experience, was a significant asset in securing this project.

The local team drew heavily on the knowledge of their UK counterparts, with key international members joining the design team and attending interviews with Roads and Maritime NSW throughout the tender process.

Key features of the project will include additional traffic sensors and CCTV cameras to monitor traffic conditions; and variable message signs, speed limits and lane use signs to be able to adapt to demand.  Ramp signals will assist by managing traffic flow onto the motorway.

Due to be completed in 2020, the project will bring the M4 into a select class of Smart Motorways in Australia, including another recent Arup project, Melbourne’s M1 Monash and Westgate Freeway Upgrade.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • SNCF uses ITS to make crossings safer
    May 19, 2021
    There are too many deaths where road and rail intersect: Virginie Taillandier, smart level crossing project manager at French rail group SNCF, outlines how ITS communications can help
  • Key Russian PPP project
    April 18, 2012
    The Northern Capital Highway (NCH) consortium has been named the preferred bidder in the tender for the central section of St Petersburg’s Western High-Speed Diameter (WHSD) project. Should NCH win the tender process it will build and then operate the entire stretch of the toll road. The consortium comprises VTB Capital and Gazprombank from Russia in partnership with Italian company Astaldi and Turkish firm Ictas Insaat.
  • ITS Australia congratulates national award winners for 2017
    November 28, 2017
    Winners of the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Australia National Awards 2017 have been announced at the Art’s Centre Melbourne. The 8th edition celebrated the nation’s most innovative and advanced transport technologies from a record number of nominations across a variety of organisations. Attended by Hon Ben Caroll MP, Minister for Industry and Employment, the awards recognise professional ITS expertise and raise awareness across all levels of government and community about the technology benefits
  • Australian company to supply VMS for London Olympics
    June 4, 2012
    Bartco, a traffic management company based in Melbourne, Australia, has won a US$1.92 million contract to supply portable variable message signs (VMS) to Transport for London (TfL) for use during the Olympic Games. Some 200 signs display both directional and security advice to motorists about road conditions during the Olympics, as well as the management of special Olympic Route Network traffic lanes.